Last modified on July 18, 2021
LinkedIn has been around since 2003 and is widely considered the leader in professional social networks. However, is it still worth joining, or is it a waste of time? Here are the pros and cons of LinkedIn for your career.
Is it essential to have a LinkedIn profile?
The short answer is “Yes”. Even if you choose not to spend much time on LinkedIn, or not at all, it’s worth taking a few minutes or so to set up your LinkedIn profile and update it regularly (e.g. when you change jobs)
Recruiters and hiring managers search for candidates on LinkedIn. Therefore, if you do not have a profile on the web, you will not appear in searches. Using LinkedIn also allows you to research companies or recruiters which is beneficial for job searching before sending out CVs and participating in interviews.
In short, building a profile is a good thing. Even if you’re not specifically looking for a job, LinkedIn will help you interact with current and former coworkers, as well as people you meet at networking events and other events. Join LinkedIn groups to get even more involved with the site.
While there’s a lot to learn about whether LinkedIn will help you find a career, here’s a quick rundown of the pros and cons.
The benefits of creating a LinkedIn profile
It’s free, but there is a paid alternative. After getting a resume or job application, recruiters or hiring managers often do a LinkedIn search for the candidate.
If more companies move to streamlined web applications, you’ll see a LinkedIn section near the resume uploader, where you can upload your LinkedIn profile along with your resume. This is a huge advantage if written well, so future hiring managers will look at both your resume and your LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn is a simple, modern way to keep track of contacts who could benefit your career. That person you met at a conference five years ago might end up working at your dream company, or that colleague from your first job might know a hiring manager you’d like to reach out to. You can reconnect and try a new lead with just a short post.
Why would LinkedIn be a waste of time?
Although it is strongly recommended to create a LinkedIn profile, the platform will consume a large part of your time for which you are not paid. Here are some things to look out for:
It can be expensive – and it doesn’t always deliver what it promises. The “Premium” function is one of the major features of LinkedIn. You get a free month, during which you have to pay a monthly fee of €29.99 per month to find out who has viewed your profile and send messages directly to recruiters.
The main disadvantage of LinkedIn, like all social networks, is that it can quickly become time-consuming. LinkedIn requires you to be active on it to become sufficiently visible by posting regularly, commenting on others’ posts, etc. Spending hours digging through hiring managers’ profiles isn’t always effective either, nor is submitting hundreds of applications to positions that don’t match your skills.
To get started, create or update your profile. This is how you communicate with people in your network. Since your profile includes details about your qualifications and experience, which are crawled by the bot to match recruiters’ employer search criteria, it’s also how you’re identified on LinkedIn.
If you don’t brand yourself on LinkedIn, it won’t help you. Creating a LinkedIn profile with the words “Private Profile” or “HR Manager” (if you’re looking for employees) instead of your name and telling someone to talk to you isn’t going to work.
Don’t worry about secrecy. LinkedIn is one of the most exclusive social media platforms out there. Just connect with people you know well. If you’re looking to build a career while working, be strategic and don’t tell your coworkers. There are ways to conduct a discreet job hunt without jeopardizing your current job.
Once your profile is complete, invite users to join your network. Start expanding the network and messaging everyone you know. You can use LinkedIn to ask for recommendations, as well as job search and work advice and assistance.
Passionate about the web and entrepreneurship, I founded Digitiz in 2016. My goal is to pass on my experience to you and to be able to save you time in choosing your tools.
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